Turbo decoding techniques

ABSTRACT

Techniques for turbo decoding orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols are described. The symbols may include constellations of different bit sizes. Techniques for combined turbo decoding and equalization are described. The described techniques can be implemented in receivers that receive wired or wireless OFDM signals and produce data and control bits by decoding the received signals.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/802,038, filed on Mar. 15, 2013. The entire contentof the before-mentioned provisional patent application is incorporatedby reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This document relates to digital communication.

BACKGROUND

Many modern digital communication systems use orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) modulation technology. Various types oferror correction codes are used to increase robustness of transmittedsignals. For example, OFDM and error coding is used in wirelesstechnologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and wired communicationtechnologies such as digital subscriber line (DSL).

SUMMARY

This document describes technologies, among other things, for turbodecoding of OFDM modulation signals. In some implementations, a combinedturbo decoding and turbo equalization technique may be used.

In one aspect, methods, systems and apparatus for turbo decodingincluding serially concatenated TCM and Reed Solomon block codes, withconvolutional interleaving, are disclosed.

In another aspect, methods, systems and apparatus for turbo decoding ofserially concatenated TCM and Reed Solomon block codes, withconvolutional interleaving, using constellations of variable sizes aspart of the same code block are disclosed. Where the least significantbits of constellations are both block coded and trellis coded, and themost significant bits are block coded only.

In another aspect disclosed techniques provide for a buffer forconstellations from more than one OFDM symbol, which provides for turbodecoding of convolutional interleaving over more than one OFDM symbol isdisclosed. Alternatively, this buffer may be after the SISOconstellation demapper, for demapped constellations.

In another aspect, a SISO synchronization buffer for the block codedonly bits from the SISO constellation demapper is disclosed. The bufferalso accepts the bits from the SISO trellis decoder and assembles theminto bytes.

In another aspect, a turbo decoder comprising a feedback path, and aSISO data frame buffer for one or more data frames is disclosed.

In another aspect, the disclosed data reception techniques use aconstellation demapper and mapper that supports variable sizeconstellations.

These and other aspects, and their implementations and variations areset forth in the drawings, the description and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a digital subscriber loop (DSL) transmitter andreceiver with non-iterative decoder.

FIG. 2 illustrates an encoder for parallel concatenated convolutionalcodes.

FIG. 3 illustrates an encoder for serially concatenated trellis codedmodulation (TCM) and block codes.

FIG. 4 illustrates a trellis encoder having a convolutional encoder andbit convertor.

FIG. 5 illustrates a generalized triangular interleaver.

FIG. 6 depicts various constellations used in digital communications.

FIG. 7 illustrates a turbo decoder for parallel concatenatedconvolutional codes.

FIG. 8 illustrates a turbo decoder for serially concatenated TCM andblock codes.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram representation of turbo decoder used in a DSLreceiver.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representation of turbo decoding for DSL control.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram representation of a pipelined decoding modulefor DSL.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart representation of a process of turbo decoding andturbo equalization.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques for turbo decoding and turbo equalization of received signalsto produce data bits are disclosed. In the description, the followingabbreviations are used.

ADSL=Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

AFE=Analog Front End

ASIC=Application Specific Integrated Circuit

BPSK=Binary Phase Shift Keying

DSL=Digital Subscriber Line

EPROM=Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

EEPROM=Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

FEQ=Frequency Domain Equalizer

FFT=Fast Fourier Transform

FPGA=Field Programmable Gate Array

IEEE=Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IFFT=Inverse Fast Fourier Transform

ITU=International Telecommunications Union

LLR=Log Likelihood Ratio

LSBs=Least Significant Bits

MAP=Maximum a Posteriori

MSBs=Most Significant Bits

n-QAM=Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

n-QPSK=Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

OFDM=Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

PAR=Peak to Average Ratio

SISO=Soft Input Soft Output

SOVA=Soft Output Viterbi Algorithm

TCM=Trellis Coded Modulation

VDSL=Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standards forAsymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and Very High Speed DigitalSubscriber Line (VDSL) transceivers specify an error correcting codeconsisting of concatenated trellis coded modulation (TCM) and ReedSolomon block codes, with convolutional interleaving. The standards alsospecify Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for modulationand demodulation. OFDM is a multicarrier technique, which uses anInverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) for modulation and a Fast FourierTransform (FFT) for demodulation. The sizes of the signal constellationsin the frequency bins of the IFFT and FFT (i.e. assigned to each of thecarriers) are variable. And the least significant bits of theconstellations are both block coded and trellis coded, while the mostsignificant bits are block coded only.

Turbo decoding significantly improves the coding gain of errorcorrecting codes. Turbo decoding is the iterative decoding ofconcatenated codes. It was originally designed for parallel concatenatedconvolutional codes, and has been extended to serially concatenatedconvolutional codes, concatenated trellis coded modulation, andconcatenated trellis coded modulation and block codes.

Present day receivers compatible with the ADSL and VDSL standards havedone a single decoding; they have not been able to decode iteratively.In some embodiments, their coding gain would be improved by being ableto turbo decode concatenated TCM and Reed Solomon block codes, withconvolutional interleaving, using OFDM with variable sizeconstellations.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram example of a DSL transmitter and a DSLreceiver with a non-iterative decoder. Conventional decoding of theconcatenated code in the ADSL and VDSL standards uses a single pass,non-iterative, decoder. A soft input constellation demapper precedes thedecoder. The inputs to the constellation demapper are constellationpoints, which each represent from one to fifteen bits, and how many bitseach constellation represents. The outputs are encoded bits. The outputsfor the two least significant bits (which are both block coded andtrellis coded) are soft outputs (i.e. 0 and 1 with reliabilityinformation.) And the outputs for the thirteen most significant bits(which are block coded only) are hard outputs (i.e. 0 and 1.) The softoutputs from the constellation demapper go to a soft input hard outputViterbi decoder. The hard outputs from the Viterbi decoder, and from theconstellation demapper, go to a synchronization buffer. Which delays theoutputs from the constellation demapper, to account for the latency ofthe Viterbi decoder, and assembles the bits into bytes. The bytes fromthe synchronization buffer go to convolutional deinterleaver. Thedeinterleaved bytes become the codewords input to a hard input hardoutput Reed Solomon decoder. Some hard output Reed Solomon decoders,while using hard information at the bit level, can use soft informationat the byte level for errors and erasures decoding.

Conventional techniques for turbo decoding of concatenated trellis codedmodulation and block codes has been for a fixed size constellation, withall of the bits of the constellation being both block coded and trelliscoded. FIG. 2 illustrates an encoder for parallel concatenatedconvolutional codes. FIG. 3 illustrates an encoder for seriallyconcatenated trellis coded modulation (TCM) and block codes. FIG. 4illustrates a trellis encoder having a convolutional encoder and a bitconvertor.

As an alternative to turbo decoding the code in the ADSL and VDSLstandards, there have been proposals to add different types of codes tothe standards, for which there is prior art for iterative decoding.There have been proposals to add parallel concatenated convolutionalcodes, parallel concatenated convolutional codes with trellis codedmodulation, and low density parity check codes.

Turbo Decoding of Serially Concatenated TCM and Reed Solomon BlockCodes, with Convolutional Interleaving

In some embodiments, turbo decoding of serially concatenated TCM andReed Solomon block codes, with convolutional interleaving, usingconstellations of variable sizes as part of the same code block may beperformed. The least significant bits of constellations are both blockcoded and trellis coded, and the most significant bits are block codedonly.

A buffer may be provided for constellations from more than one OFDMsymbol. The buffer provides for turbo decoding of convolutionalinterleaving over more than one OFDM symbol. Alternatively, this buffermay be after the SISO constellation demapper, for demappedconstellations.

A SISO synchronization buffer may be configured for the block coded onlybits from the SISO constellation demapper and may also accept the bitsfrom the SISO trellis decoder, and output of the soft synchronizationbuffer, and assemble them into bytes.

In the turbo decoder feedback path, a SISO data frame buffer may beprovided for buffering for one or more data frames.

In some embodiments, a turbo decoder supports, or decoders, the seriallyconcatenated TCM and Reed Solomon block coding, with convolutionalinterleaving, in the ADSL and VDSL standards. It supports variable sizedconstellations (see, e.g., FIG. 6), where the least significant bits areboth block coded and trellis coded, and the most significant bits areblock coded only. And convolutional interleaving over multiple OFDM timedomain symbols.

In some embodiments, a turbo decoder includes modules for turbo decodingthe error correcting code in the standards, including: A buffer forconstellations from more than one OFDM symbol. A SISO constellationdemapper. A SISO trellis decoder. A SISO synchronization buffer. A SISOconvolutional deinterleaver. A SISO Reed Solomon decoder. A SISOconvolutional deinterleaver. A SISO data frame buffer.

ADSL and VDSL are multicarrier systems which use an Inverse Fast FourierTransform (IFFT) for modulation, and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) fordemodulation. Each of the frequency bins of the IFFT and FFT contains apoint in a signal constellation. Where each constellation point is apoint in the Euclidean plane, described by a complex number, Z=X+jY,which represents modulated data. And for hard data, X and Y are oddintegers. The constellations may be of variable sizes, i.e. eachconstellation point may represent from 1 to 15 bits. I.e. the modulationfor each frequency bin can range from BPSK to 32K QAM. Some frequencybins may be unused, and represent 0 bits. A table stores the number ofdata bits for each frequency bin (subcarrier) from f=0 to the highesttransmitted frequency bin. n data bits are mapped to one of 2^nconstellation points.

The Reed Solomon coding used by the ADSL and VDSL standards is aconventional byte based Reed Solomon code with its operations in GaloisField GF(2⁸). Where the number of message bytes is k, the number ofparity bytes r, and the number of codeword bytes n=k+r.

The message polynomial is m(x)=m₀x^(k-1)+m₁x^(k-2)+ . . .+m_(k-2)x+m_(k-1).

The parity polynomial is p(x)=p₀x^(r-1)+p₁x^(r-2)+ . . .+p_(r-2)x+p_(r-1).

The generator polynomial is g(x)=(x+α)(x+α²)(x+α³) . . . (x+α^(r)).

The codeword is c(x)=m(x)x^(r)+p(x).

And p(x)=m(x)x^(r) mod g(x).

FIG. 5 illustrates a generalized triangular interleaver. Theconvolutional interleaver used by the ADSL and VDSL standards is ageneralized triangular interleaver. The bytes of the Reed Solomoncodewords are delayed by an amount that varies linearly with the byteindex i. Byte B_(i) is delayed by (D−1)×i bytes, where D is theinterleaver depth. And (D−1)=M×K. Where K is the interleaver blocklength (or number of delay lines), and M is a nonnegative integer numberof bytes.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the trellis coding used by the ADSL and VDSLstandards is Wei's 4D 16 state code. Bits u₂ . . . u₀ are input to arecursive systematic convolutional encoder of rate 2/3, which outputsbits u₂ . . . u₀. Bits u₃ . . . u₀ are input to a bit converter withequations v₁=u₁+u₃, v₀=u₃, w₁=u₀+u₁+u₂+u₃, w₀=u₂+u₃. Bits v₁ . . . v₀,and w₁ . . . w₀ become the two least significant bits input to theconstellation mapper on alternate mappings.

With reference to FIG. 9, in some embodiments, the received time domainDSL signal is filtered, and may be equalized in the time domain. Thecyclic extension is removed from the filtered and equalized signal,giving a time domain signal whose length matches that of the modulatingIFFT. An FFT transforms the time domain signal to points in signalconstellations in the frequency domain. Giving one constellation pointfor each used frequency bin. The constellation points go to a FrequencyDomain Equalizer (FEQ), which does one complex multiplication of eachconstellation point, to correct amplitude and phase.

The equalized constellation points go to a constellations buffer for theconstellation points from more than one OFDM symbol. The constellationsbuffer is large enough for the extent of the convolutional interleaving,as extrinsic information is fed back from Reed Solomon codeword bytesthat may have been interleaved over more than one OFDM symbol. In someembodiments, the structure of the constellations buffer is a slidingwindow or shift register type of structure. Then a parallel to serialconverter outputs the constellation points to a SISO constellationdemapper. Alternatively demapped constellations could be buffered.

The SISO constellation demapper has two inputs: Constellation pointswhich represent from one to fifteen bits. And the number of bits thateach constellation represents. A bits table stores the number of bitscarried by each frequency bin. It outputs encoded data for softdecoding. For error correcting codes, soft inputs and outputs refer todata bits represented as a log likelihood ratio (LLR). Where for databit d, LLR(d)=log (Pr(d=1)/Pr(d=0)), or an approximation. The SISOconstellation demapper may also accept extrinsic information which hasbeen re-encoded and re-mapped by a SISO constellation mapper.

Decoders may output LLRs calculated exactly by the MAP algorithm, orapproximately using the concept of a concurrent path (for trellisdecoders) or concurrent codeword (for block decoders). Call the receivedcodeword R, the set of soft received bits r_(n). And D the hard decodedcodeword, with minimum Euclidean distance to R, and bits d_(n). CallC_(n) the concurrent codeword, with minimum Euclidean distance to R, andc_(n)=˜d. Then approximations used include:LLR_(n)≈d_(n)×((R−C_(n))−(R−D)). AndLLR_(n)≈d_(n)×((R−C_(n))²−(R−D)²)/4.

All of the encoded bits are Reed Solomon block coded, and interleaved.The least significant bits are also trellis coded, and go to a SISOtrellis decoder. For two to fifteen bit constellations, the two leastsignificant bits are trellis coded, for one bit constellations, one bitis trellis coded.

The notation L(;;)_(n) is used to refer to the log likelihood ratios ofbits of iteration n. Where the first parameter refers to the code: i forthe inner code, and o for the outer code. The second parameter refers tothe decoders: i for the input, o for the output, e for extrinsicinformation, and a for a priori information. And the third parameter isoptional, and refers to the range of bits: m for most significant bits(MSBs), and 1 for least significant bits (LSBs).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representation of turbo decoding for DSL control.FIG. 11 is a block diagram representation of a pipelined decoding modulefor DSL. The SISO trellis decoder has two inputs. The 2 LSBs from theSISO constellation demapper are the received encoded bits input to theSISO trellis decoder. And 3 bits of a priori information are input tothe SISO trellis decoder. For the first iteration the a prioriinformation=0. For subsequent iterations, the a priori information is 3soft bits extracted from the SISO data frame buffer (which are 3 decodedbits), which correspond to 4 encoded LSBs from the SISO constellationdemapper, i.e., 2 encoded LSBs from two successive constellations. The apriori information to the inner decoder L(i;a) is the buffered 3 leastsignificant bits of the interleaved extrinsic information from theprevious iteration of the outer decoder, ˜L(o;e). With L(i;o) the outputof the inner decoder, and the inner extrinsic information,L(i;e)=L(i:o)−L(i;a).

With reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, in some embodiments, the algorithmsfor the SISO trellis decoding are the logarithmic version of the Maximuma Posteriori algorithm (log MAP), and the Soft Output Viterbi Algorithm(SOVA). Both perform exhaustive searches of the trellis, and arepractical for a 16 state code. Both the log MAP, and SOVA algorithm haveversions which use forward and backward passes, or are forward only witha sliding window. The trellis code used in the ADSL and VDSL standardsis Wei's 4-dimensional, 16 state trellis code, which places specificrequirements on the decoder. The log MAP algorithm uses additions inplace of multiplications in the MAP algorithm, and the maxlog MAPalgorithm has been shown to be equivalent to the Soft Output ViterbiAlgorithm. At low E_(d)/N₀ ratios, the log MAP algorithm may outperformthe SOVA by up to 0.7 dB.

Referring to FIG. 10 and FIG. 1, the extrinsic information from theinner decoder L(i;e), and the interleaved msbs to the outer decoder'sinput ˜L(o;i;m) are input to the SISO synchronization buffer. The SISOsynchronization buffer is used to synchronize the MSBs from the SISOconstellation demapper, which are block coded only, with the innerextrinsic information from the SISO trellis decoder, L(i;e), which has adecoding latency. Note that constellations of 3 or more bits have msbs.After synchronization, the soft bits are assembled into soft bytes. Thesoft bytes from the SISO synchronization buffer go to a convolutionaldeinterleaver. The deinterleaved soft bytes are the codewords, L(o;i),input to the outer SISO Reed Solomon decoder.

Next, SISO decoding of the outer Reed Solomon code is performed. WithL(o;i) the systematic input to the decoder, and L(o;o) the output of thedecoder, the outer extrinsic information is L(o;e)=L(o;o)−L(o;i).

The log MAP and SOVA algorithms are currently impractical for decodingReed Solomon codes. Some other possible methods of SISO Reed Solomondecoding include: Reliability assisted hard decision decodingalgorithms, including Chase type algorithms. Algebraic list decodingalgorithms, including the Koetter and Vardy algorithm. Orderedstatistics decoding, including the box and match algorithm, anditerative decoding algorithms.

The outer extrinsic information L(o;e), from the SISO Reed Solomondecoder, is fed back to a SISO convolutional interleaver, giving˜L(o;e), and then to a SISO data frame buffer. With a convolutionalinterleaver the interleaved outer extrinsic information is calculatedfrom bits that are in three stages of decoding: Bits that have completeddecoding by the outer decoder. Bit that are being decoded by the outerdecoder. Bits for which an outer codeword has not yet beendeinterleaved, and have extrinsic information that equals zero.

The interleaved outer extrinsic information may extend over more thanone OFDM symbol. Constellations from one or more OFDM symbols are readfrom the constellations buffer, and input to the SISO constellationsdemapper, in synchronization with their a priori information.

Decoding iterations continue through SISO trellis decoding, SISOsynchronization, deinterleaving, and SISO Reed Solomon decoding.

Iterative decoding is considered to have converged when the SISOdecoders agree on the output (outputs match). The number of iterationsis typically greater than or equal to two, and less than or equal tosixty four, after which hard bits can be output as the decoded data. Insome embodiments, a hard output algebraic Reed Solomon decoder may alsobe incorporated, and hard bits output when it indicates a successfuldecoding.

The turbo architecture for iterative decoding uses one of each of thedecoding blocks, and feedback. A pipelined architecture (which isanalogous to loop unrolling) is an alternative. With reference to FIG.11, a pipelined architecture contains multiple decoding modules,typically one module for each decoding iteration. In the pipelinedarchitecture for decoding DSL, a decoding module contains: A SISOtrellis decoder. A SISO synchronization buffer. A convolutionaldeinterleaver. A SISO Reed Solomon decoder. A convolutional interleaver.A SISO data frame buffer.

In some embodiments, the decoding modules are connected serially. Withthe inputs to each module being the output of the SISO constellationdemapper, and the a priori information from the previous module's SISOdata frame buffer. The outputs being the a priori information from theSISO data frame buffer, and hard bits from the SISO Reed Solomondecoder. The a priori information to the first module is set to zero.

The pipelined architecture decoding modules may also each contain a SISOconstellation demapper, and SISO constellation mapper. In which casethey would accept constellations as inputs, rather than the output ofthe SISO constellation demapper.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart representations of a process 2100 for turbodecoding for DSL. At 2102, in a synchronization buffer, encoded datafrom a constellation demapper and trellis decoder is received. At 2104,an output of the synchronization buffer is convolutionallydeinterleaved. At 2106, the deinterleaved output of the synchronizationbuffer is decoded. At 2108, soft or hard decoded bits are generated fromthe deinterleaved output.

It will be appreciated that techniques are disclosed for turbo decodingOFDM symbols. It will further be appreciated that techniques forcombined turbo decoding and equalization are disclosed. The disclosedtechniques can be implemented in receivers that receive wired orwireless OFDM signals and produce data and control bits by decoding thereceived signals.

The disclosed and other embodiments and the functional operations andmodules described in this document can be implemented in digitalelectronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware,including the structures disclosed in this document and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. The disclosedand other embodiments can be implemented as one or more computer programproducts, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructionsencoded on a computer readable medium for execution by, or to controlthe operation of, data processing apparatus. The computer readablemedium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readablestorage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter effecting amachine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or morethem. The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates anexecution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., codethat constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, or a combination of one or moreof them. A propagated signal is an artificially generated signal, e.g.,a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, thatis generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiverapparatus.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can bedeployed in any form, including as a stand alone program or as a module,component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computingenvironment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to afile in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a filethat holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in amarkup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program inquestion, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store oneor more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer programcan be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computersthat are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this document can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devicesfor storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will alsoinclude, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer datato, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g.,magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computerneed not have such devices. Computer readable media suitable for storingcomputer program instructions and data include all forms of nonvolatilememory, media and memory devices, including by way of examplesemiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks;magneto optical disks; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor andthe memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purposelogic circuitry.

While this document contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of an invention that is claimed orof what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specificto particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in thisdocument in the context of separate embodiments can also be implementedin combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features thatare described in the context of a single embodiment can also beimplemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitablesub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asub-combination or a variation of a sub-combination. Similarly, whileoperations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, thisshould not be understood as requiring that such operations be performedin the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that allillustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.

Only a few examples and implementations are disclosed. Variations,modifications, and enhancements to the described examples andimplementations and other implementations can be made based on what isdisclosed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A turbo decoding method for decoding a stream ofa plurality orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols inwhich a plurality of constellations are generated by block coding andtrellis coding a first number of least significant bits and only blockcoding a second number of most significant bits, comprising: receivingthe plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)symbols; demodulating the plurality of OFDM symbols to obtain aplurality of signal constellations having variable sizes; inputting, toa soft input soft output (SISO) constellation demapper, the plurality ofsignal constellations, along with information about a number of bitsrepresented by each constellation from the plurality of signalconstellations; and operating a soft input soft output (SISO)constellation demapper on constellations of variable sizes to generatean output for subsequent soft decoding.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: performing convolutional deinterleaving of an outputof the SISO constellation demapper; and performing convolutionalinterleaving of an output of the convolutional deinterleaving.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: synchronizing soft inputs from aSISO trellis decoder and soft inputs from the SISO constellationdemapper to produce a plurality of bits and assembling the plurality ofbits into bytes.
 4. The method of claim 1, further including: buffering,in a constellation buffer, constellations from the plurality of signalconstellations for at least two of the plurality of OFDM symbols.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further including: buffering a number of demappedconstellations output from the SISO constellation demapper, for at leasttwo of the plurality of OFDM symbols.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: generating hard coded bits, wherein the generating hardcoded bits is an iterative process in which a buffer is used to extracta number of bits from an incoming frame.
 7. A turbo decoding apparatus,at least partially implemented in hardware, method for decoding a streamof a plurality orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbolsin which a plurality of constellations are generated by block coding andtrellis coding a first number of least significant bits and only blockcoding a second number of most significant bits; comprising: a modulethat demodulates the plurality of OFDM symbols to obtain a plurality ofsignal constellations having variable sizes; a module that provides, toa soft input soft output (SISO) constellation demapper, the plurality ofsignal constellations, along with information about a number of bitsrepresented by each constellation from the plurality of signalconstellations; and a module with soft inputs and soft outputs (SISO)that demaps the constellations of variable sizes to encoded bits; amodule with soft inputs and soft outputs that decodes a trellis code; amodule with soft inputs and soft outputs that synchronizes soft inputsfrom the module that decodes the trellis code and soft inputs from themodule that demaps the constellations, assembles the bits into aplurality of bytes, and outputs the plurality of bytes; a module withsoft inputs and soft outputs that convolutionally deinterleaves theplurality of bytes; a module with soft inputs and soft outputs thatdecodes the deinterleaved plurality of bytes and generates soft or harddecoded bytes; and a module with soft inputs and soft outputs thatconvolutionally interleaves the soft or hard decoded bytes and providesa feedback to the module that decodes the trellis code.
 8. The apparatusof claim 7, further comprising: a module with soft inputs and softoutputs that buffers, in a constellation buffer, constellations from theplurality of signal constellations, for at least two of the plurality ofOFDM symbols.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising: a modulewith soft inputs and soft outputs that buffers a number of demappedconstellations output from the SISO constellation demapper, for at leasttwo of the plurality of OFDM symbols.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7,further comprising: a module with soft inputs and soft outputs thatbuffers on or more data frames corresponding to the bits in an OFDMsymbol.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprise a module thatgenerates hard coded bits, wherein the module that generates the hardcoded bits using an iterative process such that for all iterationsexcept a last iteration, a buffer is used to extract a number of bitsfrom an incoming frame.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the twodifferent classes of data comprise a first class of data comprising asynchronization symbol and a second class of data comprising output ofan outer decoder of turbo decoding.
 13. A non-transitory computerprogram product comprising a computer-readable program medium havingcode stored thereon, the code, when executed, causing the processor toimplement a method of turbo decoding a stream of a plurality orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in which a plurality ofconstellations are generated by block coding and trellis coding a firstnumber of least significant bits and only block coding a second numberof most significant bits, comprising: receiving the plurality oforthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols; demodulatingthe plurality of OFDM symbols to obtain a plurality of signalconstellations having variable sizes and inputting, to a soft input softoutput (SISO) constellation demapper, the plurality of signalconstellations, along with information about a number of bitsrepresented by each constellation from the plurality of signalconstellations; and operating a soft input soft output (SISO)constellation demapper on constellations of variable sizes to generatean output, for subsequent, soft decoding.
 14. The computer programproduct of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises: performingconvolutional deinterleaving of an output of the SISO constellationdemapper; and performing convolutional interleaving of an output of theconvolutional deinterleaving.
 15. The computer program product of claim13, wherein the method further comprises: synchronizing soft inputs froma SISO trellis decoder and soft inputs from the SISO constellationdemapper to produce a plurality of bits and assembling the plurality ofbits into bytes.
 16. The computer program product of claim 13, whereinthe method further comprises: buffering, in a constellation buffer,constellations from the plurality of signal constellations for at leasttwo of the plurality of OFDM symbols.
 17. The computer program productof claim 13, wherein the method further comprises: buffering a number ofdemapped constellations output from the SISO constellation demapper, forat least two of the plurality of OFDM symbols.
 18. The computer programproduct of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises: generatinghard coded bits, wherein the generating hard coded bits is an iterativeprocess in which a buffer is used to extract a number of bits from anincoming frame.